Logistics activities and events are gathering pace as autumn sets in, with a new Lean and Green workgroup to be launched and a promising start for the C4L Digital ICT Workshop. The Resilience and Change Management conference sponsored by Deloitte will take place on October 10. Current activities are geared to help companies prepare for the future, with a hard Brexit on the horizon and the logistics sector facing a deteriorating investment climate and the threat of recession, especially in Germany. However, there’s no stock market panic yet, and EU companies are working off their order inventory from a very successful 2018.

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Join the conference: Change Management and Resilience in Supply Chain

Managing logistics means managing change. In an increasingly uncertain business environment, the Cluster for Logistics and Deloitte Luxembourg invite you to a conference on Change Management and Resilience in Supply Chain from 14:00 on Thursday, October 10 at Deloitte's Luxembourg offices. The conference will be followed by a networking reception. Get more details and register here.

Luxembourg to open trade and investment office in Casablanca

The Luxembourg government is to open a trade and investment office at Casablanca, its first such presence in Africa. The move is part of a strategy to facilitate market access and business exchanges in growth markets, with a focus on logistics and digitisation. The announcement follows the visit of a delegation to Morocco headed by economy minister Étienne Schneider and including Crown Prince Guillaume and Crown Princess Stéphanie, as well as representatives of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and sectors such as logistics and IT.

Cargolux CEO Richard Forson says he expects the airline to carry slightly lower volumes this year, and possibly also in 2020, given the great deal of uncertainty regarding future trade flows. He says the key to managing an airline in a volatile environment is to be agile and flexible with fleet deployment, and Cargolux will will add three Boeing 747-400 extended-range freighters to its fleet this year.

Germany’s DB Cargo has reached the halfway point in its initiative to equip its 68,000 freight wagons with sensor and telematics modules. On completion, the operator and its clients will be able to monitor parameters including load conditions, temperature and humidity across the entire fleet.

Kuehne + Nagel and Air France-KLM have successfully completed trials of a direct system-to-system connection to integrate their respective electronic booking processes. The two groups are now looking to develop the solution prior to rollout in Europe and the South Asia-Pacific region. The connection enables integrated and interactive matches between available capacity and demand.

US-based cold chain specialist Lineage Logistics has acquired two European assets from Dutch firm Van Soest Coldstores. Lineage has purchased Van Soest’s facilities at Venlo in the Netherlands and Rijkevorsal in Belgium, increasing its total European cold storage capacity to nearly 200 million cubic feet at 23 sites in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

Kuehne + Nagel has begun construction of a new contract logistics centre in Contern for Swiss sports apparel firm On. With 20 loading bays, the facility will have a capacity of 20,000 square metres, extendable to 30,000 square metres. K+N plans to open up the new hub to additional clients following completion.

Clarion Gramercy has acquired nine Dutch logistics assets in three separate transactions for €100m. The company has purchased a portfolio of three facilities comprising two warehouses in Tilburg and another in Rotterdam; five warehouse properties, comprising three in Katwijk and two under development in Katwijk and Haps; and a warehouse in Venlo.

Patrizia has acquired a new-build logistics warehouse in Andrézieux-Bouthéon near Saint-Étienne in France from Goodman France for an undisclosed sum. The 61,000-square-metre logistics facility is fully let on a long-term lease to C-Logistics, part of French online retailer Cdiscount.

The European Court of Justice has decided that Belgian ports should be considered as businesses and should therefore pay corporate income tax, ruling that their exemption has been a form of illegal state aid. The Port of Antwerp had argued that it should retain the exemption on the grounds that its profit is invested in infrastructure, mobility and sustainable energy projects for the benefit of society.

The Getting to Zero Coalition, a grouping of maritime, energy, infrastructure and financial sector companies, has made a commitment to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon shipping by ensuring that commercially viable zero-emission vessels start serving deep-sea trade routes by 2030. This would also require the development of support infrastructure, including zero-emission energy production, distribution, storage and bunkering.

Europe’s ports need EU support in the transition toward carbon-neutral status, according to industry leaders speaking at the recent Added Value of Ports event organised by the Antwerp and Rotterdam port authorities. Rotterdam authority COO Ronald Paul said the European Commission's backing is essential for necessary infrastructure investments, while Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Antwerp Port Authority, called on the EU to provide a supportive regulatory framework and financial incentives.

Cargolux is increasing its fuel surcharge to €0.65 per kilo from September 30. The freight carrier says the move is a response to market fuel price increases. The surcharge has been as low as €0.55 per kilo this year.

Cargolux has transported a 43-tonne, 10-metre-long shaft from Luxembourg to its Chinese hub in Zhengzhou, the heaviest single piece of cargo the airline has ever shipped to mainland China. The shipment was carried out for HNCA Logistics (Luxembourg) and European Logistics Partners.

Eurotunnel says it has completed preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal on October 31. The company, which is planning to establish stops to carry out truck checks prior to their boarding trains in the UK and France, has set up a customs and sanitary/phytosanitary control area in Coquelles, while also hiring additional support staff.

Air freight services could provide transport solutions for commerce in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to Christoffel Nielen, Cargolux’s vice-president for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He says a hard Brexit would mean inevitable customs delays and would also affect road traffic and trucking. Cargolux is currently monitoring customer demand, and could potentially devise a flight schedule to include the UK if necessary.

Champ Cargosystems has joined the Animal Transportation Association, enabling it to collaborate with other providers in the sector. The company says it has been developing new animal transport solutions to improve communication between shippers, forwarding agents and airlines in the interests of safety.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk subsidiary Maersk Oil Trading is partnering with Koole Terminals to build an IMO 2020-compliant fuel production facility at the Port of Rotterdam. The project is designed to cover up to 10% of Maersk’s annual fuel demand, and Maersk Oil Trading says the agreement will ensure stable services during a potentially volatile period.

The Port of Antwerp has placed an order with Compagnie Maritime Belge for an ultra-low-emission, hydrogen-powered tug, as part of efforts to make its fleet more eco-friendly. The dual-fuel Hydrotug’s combustion engine will burn hydrogen and diesel, and will comply with EU Stage V emissions standards.

The SAFIR consortium has conducted its first simultaneous drone flight trials at the Port of Antwerp, aiming to prove the safety of drones in challenging environments. The EU-backed initiative, which comprises Amazon Prime Air, Aveillant, C-Astral, DronePort, Elia, Explicit, Helicus, the Port of Antwerp, Proximus, SABCA, Skeyes, Tekever and Unifly, is now looking to conduct further simultaneous drone flights over the port, as well as over Antwerp's city centre.

Belgian rail freight operator Lineas is planning to double the capacity of intermodal services to and from Antwerp. The company is increasing its weekly capacity from 2,600 to 5,300 containers to enable more freight to be switched from road to rail during works to complete the city’s R1 ring road.

Nike has opened a distribution centre in Belgium powered solely by renewable energy. The 1.5-million-square-foot facility relies on wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric and biomass energy, while its infrastructure includes a canal network that allows 99% of inbound containers to reach the container park by water, eliminating around 14,000 truck journeys a year.

Dutch start-up CocoPallet is using coconut husks to replace wood in the manufacture of shipping pallets. The company says the product is pest-repellent, water-resistant and biodegradable, and comes in around $1 per pallet cheaper that the standard material.